Paths of the Heart
by Mims
Summary: Sequel to Dreams can Come Through, but may be able to be read as a stand alone. When Buffy and company are called upon to fight a war they have no part in, alliances are everything and everywhere and only one thing is sure: trust no one.


Disclaimer: Everything Buffy belongs to Joss and the lawyers that protect him from the evil fanfic writers.  
  
Author's note 1: I'm not having the time to write that I wanted, so I haven't been able to finish Learning to Be Careful. I had this written and was waiting to finish Learning so I could concentrate on writing this. Since my schedule has been thrown off, I've decided to send this out there. You know, just so you won't forget about me :-)  
  
Author's note 2: This is the sequel to my fic, Dreams Can Come Through. It follows the season 6 timeline up to Wrecked then breaks off into my own little world.  
  
Author's note 3: I'm going to do a lot of recapping in the first chapter so if you want, you can try to read this as a stand-alone. If you're still lost after chapter one but interested in the story, then I suggest you read Dreams. Come on, you'll like it. I know you will.  
  
Pairings: B/X and D/? for sure, after that we'll see what happens, wink wink.  
  
Distribution: Like you'd want this, but hey if you do just let me know cause I have a fetish for seeing my work as many places as humanly possible.  
  
Rating: R  
  
Prologue  
  
JUNE 6, 2002- SUNNYDALE CEMETERY  
  
Buffy sat alone in the graveyard. She was biding her time, baiting the trap. So her mind began to wander. She thought over the past seven months. They had been the best months and the worst of months of her life. It had all started when she hit her all-time low. She slept with Spike. Buffy had been in a very bad place then, so full of anger, resentment and numbness. She remembered how funny it was to be angry but numb at the same time. She had slept with Spike in hopes of capturing some feeling and stopping the numbness. She did feel with Spike. She felt pain.  
  
Of course their "relationship" had been doomed from the start, but it hadn't mattered then. Nothing mattered to Buffy. Until the night Xander caught them. He had been angry and hurt, but he hadn't hated her. He had helped her. Xander was able to break down her shield of self-loathing and hatred to reach her heart. After that she had fallen head over heels in love with him. She had finally found what her heart had always yearned for, true, normal, happy love. A love not doomed by curses or egos or evil. Something pure in her unpure world.  
  
There were obstacles, though. Spike and Anya for starters. Anya had taken her split with Xander hard, but she survived. Spike to his credit, though after a talk with Dawn, stepped aside to let Buffy finally find true happiness. His sacrifice did not go unrewarded. His humanity had been returned to him, but with a purpose: help Faith. William became Faith's watcher and brought with him the promise of redemption. He also brought her love. A deep and powerful connection that blossomed into a deep and powerful romance.  
  
Then came Amy, who after being vamped, became a powerful vampire witch determined to complete a dangerous ritual to harness the power of the hellmouth. The Scoobies had been forced to call in all the help they could, Faith, William, Giles, Oz, Angel and Cordelia. Even then, as it turned out, only Xander, a completely human and uncalled champion, could stop Amy once she harnessed the power.  
  
The victory had not come without a price. Amy needed a second vampire witch for the ritual and was able to turn Tara right under the scoobies noses. During the battle, Amy used her new powers to vamp William back to Spike and force him to try and kill Faith. Faith had finally been forced to kill Spike, dusting her own heart. The time after that had not been easy. Faith and Willow's worlds had collapsed upon themselves, leaving both of their psyches a mess.  
  
But that hadn't even been the worst of it for Buffy. She had almost lost Xander. Twice. Before the final battle, Amy had turned Xander. Only a special ritual that Cordelia, of all people, found was able to reverse the effects by having Xander's first drink of blood be from his true love, Buffy. Then, Xander had tried to follow Buffy's act by sacrificing himself to stop Amy. He had failed to kill her, but had luckily survived and had been able to stop Amy with Faith's help.  
  
The next months had also been a strain.  
  
Xander, suffering injuries from the battle, had been forced out of work for a while. This eventually led Xander to start his own construction company. He needed the flexible hours and less backbreaking management work. Fighting the undead was tough work by itself, coupled with construction it was incredibly bad for him. But Xander's unemployment and subsequent start up of his own company hadn't been a problem since, before any of the Amy issues occurred, Buffy had won the lottery for 2.2 million dollars. It appeared, angst of living on a hellmouth aside, the PTB actually smiled at her once in a while.  
  
Still, Xander had to do something to feel useful while he was unable to work. He spent the month after the battle with Amy making design plans for the basement, which he discovered he enjoyed almost as much as the actual hands on work. This was all done because the Summers house, of course, had a new resident, Faith.  
  
Things had been pretty touch and go for a while. They all worried Faith would do herself in. But she was a strong girl. She found a sense of peace and belonging from her tragedy. The two slayers had formed a sisterly bond and eventually even Dawn accepted Faith as a member of their growing and unusual family.  
  
Giles had stayed in Sunnydale afterwards. He had been unable to truly develop a life for himself in England again. Plus, though he rarely admitted it, he had missed them. He did become lonely from time to time, still not over the hill, but he no longer felt at home in his homeland. Sunnydale was where he belonged.  
  
Anya, however, felt the opposite. After everything she and Xander had been through, she felt the need to see the world on her own. Oz had offered her the chance to do that and use her skills with money to manage his band, Dingoes Ate My Baby. They had all been sad to see her go, but it was nice for Anya to continue to grow as a person.  
  
Then, there was Willow. It had been almost as hard for her as it had been for Faith. Tara had been her rock in kicking the magic addiction. She was her anchor that kept Willow from going too far. On top of that, she blamed herself for not noticing Tara's change until it was too late. In truth, Amy had been using mind manipulation to fool them all including Tara herself, but that didn't quell Willow's pain and guilt.  
  
Despite all this, Willow had done her best not to go overboard. Keeping that balance between magic for good and magic for bad was difficult. Especially when things got crazy. And in Sunnydale, they often did. Not only did they have to deal with the remnants of the vampire and demon army Amy had built up, but now the newest threat.  
  
Which brought Buffy's mind back to the present. They should be here any minute and this threat could be dealt with. Buffy could barely believe they constituted a threat and at first had thought them a joke. But after the girl had been killed, she knew they were serious problem.  
  
The night June air was cool and crisp, a stark contrast to the hot and humid day air. She wore a simple tan outfit, good for fighting, easy to move in, and one of Xander's lesser favorites so she didn't mind if it got wrecked or dirty. The thought of caring about what Xander thought of her still brought a smile to her face. He was her light and rock. Whenever she was beginning to even contemplate missing heaven, one glance from or at him was all it took to bring her back.  
  
"So, we meet at last," a male voice said. Her mind was pulled away from thoughts of Xander. Buffy rolled her eyes and turned to face her opponent.  
  
"Ah, we've met before," she replied casually. Buffy sized him up and decided things would go exactly as planned.  
  
"Yes, but never like this. With you the fly in my web," he taunted.  
  
"Warren, get over yourself," she told him.  
  
"Don't underestimate me slayer," he shot back, getting into a fighting stance.  
  
"You've got to be kidding me?" she asked incredulously. "You think you can take me?"  
  
He moved menacingly towards her. "Try me slayer."  
  
"Yeah, try him," Andrew said. He appeared from their left, holding a large raygun weapon.  
  
"Did you check the perimeter?" Warren called behind him.  
  
"All clear," Jonathan replied. He entered the scene from Warren's right, also carrying a raygun. "She's alone."  
  
"Excellent," Warren replied.  
  
"I could take you three with my arms tied behind my back," Buffy said contemptuously.  
  
Warren's response was to simply leap feet first at the slayer. His power was overwhelming and she was knocked over a headstone and onto her back. "Always wanted to get you on your back slayer," he said coldly.  
  
Buffy threw her feet into Warren's chest with surprisingly little effect. She rolled to her side and was back on her feet while he cackled at her.  
  
"Going to have to do a lot better than that," he said darkly. He grabbed Buffy by the arm and flung her easily across the cemetery. She slammed into a crypt and had to shake her head to clear it. She cleared it just in time to see Warren's fist knock her back into the wall.  
  
"How do you like the new and improved me," Warren said. Except, the voice wasn't coming from the Warren attacking her.  
  
Buffy had just enough time to look over to where the three nerds stood. She glanced in front of her to where Warren the second, stood holding her at bay. "How?"  
  
The Warren in front of her took up a fighting stance Giles had once tried to teach her.  
  
"Well, funny story actually," Warren laughed, almost as darkly as his counterpart. "Meet, Warrenbot."  
  
"You got to be kidding me," Buffy muttered.  
  
"He's been programmed to be the fiercest warrior known to man. He has every fighting style ever know to man in that head of his. And he obeys me completely. Not even you can take him slayer."  
  
"Want to bet?"  
  
"Actually," Warren said evilly.  
  
"So this is what it comes down to, huh?" Buffy asked. "You kill Katrina and cover it up, then send your robot to take care of the only people who can bring you to justice."  
  
"Yeah, that's pretty much it in a nutshell," Warren replied.  
  
"When do we get to kill her?" Andrew asked excitedly. He hopped up and down with his raygun.  
  
"Careful with that moron," Jonathan said bitterly. He turned his own raygun on Andrew. "I said stop."  
  
"Shut up, both of you," Warren commanded. The two complied. "Now, we watch the slayer die."  
  
The Warrenbot went after Buffy with renewed vigor. Before Buffy knew what was happening, Warrenbot had her in an ancient Chinese death grip. He was starting to squeeze her tight, cutting her air supply off. Buffy gasped and struggled but it was no use.  
  
"Any last words?" Warren sneered at her. Buffy glared in response.  
  
"I have something to say," Jonathan announced. He pulled his magic bone from his belt and said, "Roto."  
  
Suddenly, the Warrenbot seemed to struggle for a second and then started smoking. His arms sprung out of their sockets, as did his legs. Buffy easily freed herself from the robots grip.  
  
"What the hell?" Warren demanded.  
  
"Don't move," a new voice called from behind the nerds. Warren spun around to see Faith standing there. Andrew was about to level his raygun at her but he too was stopped.  
  
"I'd stay right where you are," Xander called. He had the automatic crossbow the gang had gotten from the military base trained on Andrew. Warren had thoughts of going to his right, but he saw Giles and Willow waiting for him, spell books in hand.  
  
"Look, if we all blast them at once at least one of us might escape," Warren said to the other two.  
  
"No one's making it out of here," Jonathan told him. "You don't get it do you?"  
  
Warren and Andrew just stared at Jonathan, unable to contemplate what was clearly happening to them.  
  
"You went too far when you killed Katrina," he continued. "This was supposed to be fun. Like, hey let's run Sunnydale. It was just a game, you know. But you killed Katrina, and that's not right."  
  
"We go down," Warren said, his voice deadly, "we're taking you with us."  
  
"Maybe," Jonathan agreed. "But what we did was wrong, so I'm ready to take what's coming to me."  
  
"No," Andrew whined. "I can't take jail."  
  
"Should have thought about that before," Xander said, reminding Andrew he was there.  
  
"Jonathan came to us," Buffy told them. "He wanted to stop you. And he didn't kill her."  
  
"He was still there," Warren told her.  
  
"And I'm willing to go to jail, but I'm testifying against you," Jonathan went on.  
  
"When did you grow a backbone?" Andrew asked.  
  
"Shut up," Faith said. "Now come along and let us take you to jail."  
  
"Not a chance," Warren told her. "Andrew shoot!"  
  
Andrew brought the gun up and fired at Faith. Or rather, he tried. When he pulled the trigger nothing happened. "Huh?"  
  
"I took care of it. No one else dies," Jonathan told his former partners. Warren said nothing but reached for a gun he'd stashed in his pocket.  
  
Time slowed. Jonathan couldn't react. Warren pulled the gun up and squeezed the trigger. The bullet spiraled out at him, but still Jonathan was frozen in place. Faith, however, was not. She leapt for Jonathan and knocked him out of the bullet's path. It grazed her shoulder and she cursed in pain. Warren was about to fire again, but an arrow lodged itself in his shoulder blade. Xander prepared to fire another if he moved. This allowed Buffy enough time to get over and kick the gun out of Warren's hand.  
  
Andrew tried to run, but Willow and Giles began chanting and a force held him in place. Warren wasn't about to give up though. Buffy lunged for him, but he sidestepped her. He then, despite the pain, dug in his belt for a knife.  
  
"Move again and it's over," Xander warned. Warren ignored him and went for Buffy. He didn't make it three steps. Xander fired the automatic crossbow and the arrow flew through Warren's side. The ringleader continued his advance, ignoring the pain wracking his body. Xander didn't want to fire again, but Warren left him little choice. He pulled the trigger and another arrow flew through the crisp night sky. This one hit him in the arm and Warren fell to the ground.  
  
Buffy was on him in a moment and he was disarmed.  
  
"Is he okay?" Xander asked, running to see them.  
  
"He'll live," she sighed. "If we get him to a hospital."  
  
"Faith needs to go too," Jonathan said as he and Faith walked over to them.  
  
"I'll be fine," she said. She was holding a torn off part of her shirt to her wound.  
  
"Come on," Xander said gently. "It can't hurt."  
  
"This from the man that hates hospitals," Faith replied, though her voice gave her away. She was going.  
  
Willow and Giles had secured Andrew in a pair of handcuffs that Xander had assured them he only had for situations like this. Buffy and Xander helped Warren to his feet and they began to head to Buffy's SUV so they could take him to the hospital.  
  
"What about me?" Jonathan asked cautiously. In response Faith shocked them all by wrapping her good arm around his shoulder.  
  
"A good friend of mine once told me about this thing called redemption," she replied.  
  
HIDDEN FORTRESS  
  
The three men awaited permission to speak. This was the custom. They came to the hidden fortress, told the voice box they had business, were let in and lead to this office. It was huge, with a twenty-foot ceiling and forty foot circumference. Dark cherry furnished the entire office, from the huge desk to the ten foot high bookcases filled with occult references. And behind the desk was the person that chilled them the most. They'd never seen his face, nor did they know who it was they worked for. Only that they were to gather information and report.  
  
The six foot tall black leather chair, as always, was turned with its back to them. "What news do you bring me?" he asked simply.  
  
Ron Cleeron took a deep breath and stepped forward. "We've done as you asked."  
  
"And?" the voice boomed.  
  
"The prisoner you asked us to find, Faith Williams, she's no longer there," Ron said nervously.  
  
"Did you find her current location?"  
  
"Well, according to the prison records she was killed in an attempted escape about seven months ago."  
  
"But?" the voice asked, clearly knowing there was a but.  
  
"Well, after the prison we went to Sunnydale to find Buffy Summers. We located both Miss Summers and a girl who bore a striking resemblance to Miss Williams living at the Summers residence."  
  
"And Dawn Summers?"  
  
"Also living there. Along with an Alexander Harris and Willow Rosenberg, sir."  
  
"Were you able to ascertain the location of Rupert Giles?"  
  
"Also, in Sunnydale. Reports had been that he'd returned to England early this year, but when we were in Sunnydale we spotted him running a local magic shop," Cleeron informed him.  
  
"Very well. You will be paid on your way out, as per usual."  
  
Cleeron and his partners nodded to the chair and left the creepy office.  
  
"This was unexpected," a young man said, stepping from the shadows.  
  
"Slightly," the voice conceded.  
  
"This was not the plan," the man replied.  
  
"No, but it could work for us."  
  
"How?"  
  
"The Resistance group is growing harder to control. Send them to get the slayers. Either one will do at this point. Have them tell the truth."  
  
"Sir, I must point out this is a dangerous game you're playing at," the man reminded him.  
  
"I'm aware. It's a balancing act really. All I need to do is assure I'm the only one on top at the end."  
  
"I realize this," the man continued, not letting the point go without being heard. "But this balance is fragile as it is. The tribes may destroy each other very soon. The Resistance, as you mentioned, is becoming harder to control. And might I add you don't have full control of the council either. Bringing in not one but two slayers that you have no control over could topple everything. The plan was to kill Faith and use the next slayer."  
  
"This is why you are my second in command Victor," the voice replied brightly. "But things have been headed this way for sometime. I figured Faith an easy target, but if she's alive she could be useful."  
  
"And Summers?"  
  
"The Resistance was going to find her eventually. You know they had an interest in the Key to begin with, and once they learned the truth, well they were bound to go to Buffy."  
  
"Which would have been fine if she had stayed dead like we planned on," Victor pushed. "But she's alive. When the Resistance goes to her she'll help them. The slayer has to be on our side for your plan to work. And Faith, well, let's not kid ourselves sir, she's volatile at best. And at worst she's deadly."  
  
"Yes, I'm aware," the voice replied easily. "Which is why you've convinced me to change plans a bit. We'll assure that Faith doesn't come along. Send some of the watchers with the Resistance. And we'll find a way to make Buffy work for us. I want to know her weak points. The only times she's ever been defeated have been when her emotions have gotten the better of her. Find out what we can do to guarantee her cooperation. Take her support system away."  
  
Victor sighed. This was better than nothing. "As you wish sir." Victor left to make the calls.  
  
HIGH COUNCIL HEADQUARTES, LONDON, ENGLAND  
  
Quentin Travers stepped into his office. He sighed. He may be in charge of the council but that did not always mean he was in charge of the council. What it meant was when the council made a decision he was the one to carry it out. Which usually worked fine when he agreed to the council's decision. However, this time he clearly disagreed with the decision.  
  
Going to Sunnydale had never, in Travers experience, been a good thing for the council. Buffy Summers, as far as he was concerned, was no longer a slayer. The lineage no longer fell with her, she no longer worked for the council, and she did whatever she wanted whenever she wanted. Travers knew the situation with the war had deteriorated. The situation would eventually end up brining a slayer to the area. He just didn't understand why it couldn't wait. Why the council refused to wait until the next slayer was called. But, his voice was clearly the council minority and he had been chosen to go to Sunnydale and fetch Miss Summers.  
  
Travers clicked his intercom on, "Gilbert, would you please send a transport out to Woodlands and pick up Hans, Liam, Alexis, Vincent, and Cole. Tell them we have a meeting in Sunnydale. And tell them not to be too frightening, we need to put our best foot forward."  
  
Obviously… To be Continued  
  
This part was a short just to set up the plot and tie up some loose ends. More and longer parts to follow. 


End file.
